'Eaters Make Their Way to Palm Desert for Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate

Wednesday, March 2

Palm Desert, Calif.

7:00 AM

UC Irvine

Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate

'Eaters Make Their Way to Palm Desert for Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate

March 01, 2022 | Men's Golf

Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate
Dates: March 2-4 (Wednesday-Friday)
Location: The Classic Club - Palm Desert, Calif.
Par/Yardage: Par 72, 7,305 yards
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's golf team will make its way out to Palm Desert, California, for the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, March 2-4.

The three-day tournament (Wednesday-Friday) will be held at The Classic Club with the par-72 course being played at 7,305 yards. One round is scheduled for each day with tee times starting at 7 a.m.

The Anteaters are part of a 20-team field that features four programs in the top-75 of the latest Golfstat rankings (Feb. 22), including No. 45 Nevada, No. 49 Boise State, No. 57 Charlotte and No. 74 UTSA. Also in the tournament are Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Colorado, Dixie State, Long Beach State, New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Oral Roberts, Southern Utah, Seattle U, Texas State, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UT Arlington and host Wyoming.

Kolbe Irei, Darien Zhao, Nathan Irwin, Johnny Bai and Henry Fitzhugh make up UCI's 5-count-4 lineup.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine finished 16th overall at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate, Feb. 17-19, at The Ocean Course at Hokuala in Lihue, Kaua'i. The Anteaters combined for a 54-hole score of 894 (289-307-298). No. 38 New Mexico won the team title at 25-under 839 as the Lobos came in nine strokes ahead of 27th-ranked Arizona. Nathan Irwin was UCI's top performer, tying for 58th with a three-round total of 223 (69-79-75). Henry Fitzhugh moved up 15 spots in the standings on the final day to tie for 69th with a 225 (75-76-74). Darien Zhao carded a 226 (73-77-76) to tie for 76th, while Johnny Bai (78-75-74) and Kolbe Irei (72-80-75) tied for 80th.

NEWS & NOTES
• UCI kicked off the spring season on one of its home courses for the fourth year in a row.
• The 'Eaters co-hosted the Orange County Collegiate Classic at Coto de Caza in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
• In 2019, they began the spring portion of their schedule with the Anteater Invitational at Big Canyon CC.
• Kolbe Irei earned his first collegiate victory, winning the individual title at the OC Collegiate Classic, Feb. 7-8.
• Irei came in at even-par 216 with a career-best 68 in the second round.
• He currently leads the squad on the season with a 73.47 scoring average.
• Darien Zhao tied for 2nd at the OC Collegiate Classic, carding a 219 (+3) to secure his best collegiate finish.
• He fired a career-low 68 in the second round for his third sub-70 score of the 2021-22 campaign.
• Zhao was UC Irvine's top finisher in two of the team's three fall tournaments and owns a season average of 73.73.
• Senior Nathan Irwin had a top-20 showing at the season-opening Nick Watney Invitational (T19th).
• He also led the 'Eaters at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate where he tied his season best with a 69 in the first round.
• Irwin ranks third on the squad with a 73.93 scoring average.
• UCI carded its best 18-hole score of the year with a 277 in the second round of the Visit Stockton Invitational.
• In that round, Zhao, Irwin and Irei all registered a 2-under 69.
• Henry Fitzhugh has played in every tournament since his arrival at UC Irvine in 2020.
• Four of the seven returning 'Eaters are seniors - Irwin, Matt Gunson, Ethan Han and Trueman Park.
• The Anteaters also welcome two newcomers in Johnny Bai and Jin Nakao.
• Bai, a redshirt freshman, graduated from Lake Mary Preparatory School in Florida.
• Nakao is a true freshman out of Burbank High School where he was an individual league champion.
• Back in November, UC Irvine signed Rei Harashima and Andy Zou to National Letters of Intent for 2022-23.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will be back in action at the UC San Diego Invitational in Carlsbad, California, March 21-22.